Engine having oil pan with deflection vanes



.Feb. 4, 1969 R. K. SHIER ENGINE HAVING OIL PAN WITH DEFLECTION VANESFiled July 31, 1967 3 Sheet INVENTOR. fiz'caza 15 .5162?! ATTORNEY Feb.4, 196 9 R, sH|ER 3,425,514

ENGINE HAVING OIL PAN WI TH DEFLECTION VANES Filed July 51, 1967 Sheet 3or 2 l N VEN TOR.

adgm United Smtes Patent 3,425,514 ENGINE HAVING OIL PAN WITH DEFLECTIONVANES 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An engine includes an oil panhaving a sump portion at one end and a shallow portion at the otherseparated by a raised transverse tunnel arranged to provide clearancefor a power output shaft to pass close to the longitudinal axis of theengine crankshaft. The transverse tunnel extends close to the centerbearing cap and above the lowest positions reached by the adjacent crankthrows and counterweights of the crankshaft. Flow directing diagonalvanes are arranged along the floor of the pan shallow portion sweepingback toward the raised tunnel. The vanes receive oil swept transverselyacross the pan shallow portion by rotation of the crankshaft and deflectthe oil over the raised tunnel into the sump so as to prevent anexcessive accumulation of oil in the pan shallow portion. Twoalternative ways of forming the ribs are disclosed. Additional bafflemeans to prevent oil sloshing from the sump and forward of the shallowportion are also disclosed.

Background of the invention This invention relates to internalcombustion engines and, more particularly, to an engine having an oilpan with flow-directing vanes and baffle members to direct oil over araised central portion of the pan and retain it in a sump portion.

In internal combustion engines of conventional construction, it iscommon practice to provide a removable oil pan located beneath thecrankshaft and reciprocating parts of the engine. The oil pan commonlyincludes a sump portion in which the major portion of the lubricatingoil charge for the engine is contained and from which it is drawn by alubricating oil pump for delivery to the engine oil system. The oil isused for lubricating the various bearings and moving parts of the engineand then drains back from the interior portions of the engine to theengine oil pan, the floor of which is normally slanted so as to returnthe oil to the sump portion of the pan for reuse or storage.

In certain engine applications, however, such as in certain well knownfront wheel drive automobiles, the vehicle arrangement requires atransverse power output shaft to pass closely beneath the centralportion of the engine. In order to accommodate such an arrangement, itis known in the art to provide an oil pan having a raised tunnel portionextending transversely across the pan and separating the sump portion inthe rear of the pan from a relatively shallow portion in the front ofthe pan. To provide maximum clearance for the transverse shaft, theraised portion of the pan is located between crank throws of the enginecrankshaft and extends above the lowest point reached by the crankthrows and counterweights during operation of the engine. In oil pans ofthis type, the raised tunnel portion creates a darn which tends to trapexcessive amounts of oil in the shallow front portion of the pan. Toprevent this, it is known to provide bafile means to receive oil sweptto the side of the pan by the rotating crankshaft and associatedcomponents and to carry the oil in the manner of an eave trough alongthe side of the pan and over the raised portion back to the sump.

Summary of the invention The present invention relates to an oil pan ofthe type described, but having simple yet novel means of moving oil fromthe shallow portion of the pan over the raised tunnel and into the sumpportion to prevent an excessive accumulation of oil in the shallowportion. This is accomplished by the provision of diagonalflow-directing vanes along the bottom of the pan shallow portion. Thevanes receive oil which is swept transversely across the shallow portionof the pan by the rotating crankshaft and direct the oil rearwardly overthe raised tunnel and into the sump. Thus, the present arrangement makesuse of the direct impingement of the oil on the vanes and deflection bythe vanes in the direction of the sump as opposed to relying oncollection of the oil in gravity distributing baflle means of the priorart.

In addition, in order to prevent oil from sloshing out of the sump andinto the shallow portion due to rapid accelerations or decelerations ofthe vehicle, a horizontal baffle is provided extending from the raisedtunnel horizontally over the adjacent part of the sump portion. Anadditional bafile member is provided at the front of the pan shallowportion to prevent excessive amounts of oil from sloshing against thefront crankshaft oil seal.

The present arrangement has been shown to be a simple yet effectivemeans for accomplishing the desired purpose of maintaining an adequatesupply of oil in the engine sump and preventing an excessiveaccumulation of oil in the front shallow portion of the oil pan. Theseand other advantages of the present invention will be more apparent fromthe following description and drawings of specific embodiments of theinvention disclos in detail hereinafter.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of an engine and oil panassembly embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the oil pan of FIGURE 1 taken generally alongthe line 22 of the figure;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken generally along theline 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary top view of an oil pan similar in otherrespects to that of FIGURE 2, but showing an alternative embodiment ofthe flow-directing vanes;

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the embodiment ofFIGURE 4 taken generally along the line 55 of the figure; and

FIGURE 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the oil pan of FIGURES4 and 5 taken generally along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now to the drawings,FIGURE 1 discloses an internal combustion engine generally indicated bynumeral 10 and having a frame 12 in which is rotatably carried acrankshaft 14. The crankshaft includes a plurality of longitudinallyspaced crank throws 16 to which are attached the usual connecting rods18. Adjacent the crank throws are a number of counterweights 20 forbalancing the crankshaft and the reciprocating parts of the engineconnected to the crankshaft.

The crankshaft is supported in the engine frame at journals 22 spacedintermediate each of the crank throws and at the ends of the crankshaftby a plurality of bearing caps 24 extending thereunder. The crank throws16 and the counterweights 20 are located eccentric to the center line ofthe crankshaft so that, at their lowest positions reached duringrotation of the crankshaft, they extend substantially below the lowestsurfaces of bearing caps 24.

Sealingly secured to the engine frame 12 and extending the length of theengine beneath the crankshaft is an oil pan generally indicated bynumeral 26. The oil pan includes a relatively deep sump portion 28located under the rear portion of the engine and a shallow portion 30located under the front portion of the engine. These portions aredefined in part by side walls 32 connected by a floor 34 which, in theshallow portion of the pan, closely surrounds the engine crankshaft,having a minimum of clearance from the lower positions of the crankthrows and counterweights.

Between the sump portion 28 and the shallow portion 30, the pan floor 34includes an arcuately shaped raised tunnel portion 36 extendingtransversely across the pan to provide clearance through which a poweroutput shaft 38 extending from final drive housing 40 (indicated byphantom lines) may pass transversely under the engine near the locationof the center main journal. To permit the output shaft to pass asclosely as possible to the crankshaft axis, the raised portion 36 of theoil pan floor is located intermediate the center pair of crank throwsand extends above the lowest position of the crank throws andcounterweights to a point close to the center main bearing cap. Theraised floor portion 36, extending across the center of the pan, createsa dam which tends to prevent oil collecting in the shallow portion 30 ofthe pan from returning to the sump portion 28 at the rear of the pan.Without additional means to return the oil to the sump during operationof the engine, an excessive volume of oil would collect in the shallowportion of the pan and would be whipped into an aerated foam by therotation of the crank throws and counterweights through the oil.Retention of this oil in the pan shallow portion would also tend tolower the level of oil in the sump portion 28 and starve the enginelubricating oil system.

To overcome this problem, diagonally extending flowdirecting vanes 42are provided along the floor of the pan shallow portion. In theembodiment of FIGURES 1-3, the vanes take the form of upwardly extendingribs formed .in the sheet metal of the oil pan floor. The ribs areformed with their front sides 44 forming a relatively shallow angle withthe floor 34, while their rear sides 46 extend upwardly from floor 34 ata sharp angle approaching 90". In this way, the rear sides 46 arearranged to receive oil thrown transversely across the oil pan fioor andto direct it rearwardly so that it passes over tunnel portion 36 andinto the sump 38.

In the alternative embodiment of FIGURES 4-6, a differing arrangement ofvanes is shown. In this embodiment, a deflector member 48 is secured, asby spot welding, to the shallow portion of the oil pan floor whichcontains no ribs. Instead, the vanes are formed by upwardly ventportions 50 of deflector member 48. The vane portions 50 are angledrearwardly toward tunnel portion 36 so as to effectively trap the oilswept transversely across the oil pan floor and direct it rearwardlyover the tunnel portion and into the sump.

The diagonal vanes, which extend upwardly and rearwardly along theshallow portion of the oil pan floor, effectively clear the pan shallowportion of excessive accumulations of oil under the majority ofoperating conditions. During sudden stopping movements or negativeaccelerations of the vehicle, however, it could be possible forexcessive amounts of oil to slosh forward out of the sump and over thetunnel portion 36 forming temporary excessive accumulations in theshallow portion of the pan. Also, during such movements, oil in the panshallow portion may be driven forward against the seal 52 located on thefront portion of the crankshaft. In order to prevent such occurrances, ahorizontal baflle member 54 is disposed over the front part of sump 28,being secured along tunnel portion 36 and the adjacent sides of the oilpan. This bafile includes a stiifening rib 56 and acts to prevent oilfrom sloshing out of the sump during stopping movements of the vehicle.In addition, at the front of the pan shallow portion, a vertical bafflemember 58 is located. This baflle is secured to the sides of the oil panand provides an opening 60 between its lower edge and the oil pan floorto permit proper drainage from the front portion of the engine into thepan shallow portion. The vertical bafiie 58 is effective to prevent thesloshing forward of excessive amounts of oil in the pan shallow portionwhenever quick stops of the vehicle occur.

While the present invention has been disclosed by two specificembodiments showing in detail the best known means for carrying out theinvention, it should be apparent that numerous changes could be made bythose skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the inventionwhich is, accordingly, to be limited only by the language of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. An oil pan for an internal combustion engine comprising a relativelyshallow portion, a relatively deep sump portion and a transverselyextending darn portion separating said shallow portion from said deepportion, and means to direct oil from said shallow portion over saiddarn portion and into saidsump portion, said means including a pluralityof upwardly extending diagonal vanes arranged along the bottom of saidshallow portion to intercept and direct toward said sump portion oilthrown transversely against said vanes as a result of the effect of themoving parts of the engine.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said vanes extend diagonally at anangle of about 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the oil pan.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said vanes comprise ribs stampedinto the sheet metal bottom of the oil pan, said ribs having the sidesthereof toward said darn portion extending upwardly at a sharp anglewith respect to the bottom pan surface.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pan includes a sheet metaldeflector member secured in the bottom of said shallow portion and saidvanes are formed by upwardly bent portions of said deflector member.

5. An oil pan for an internal combustion engine comprising a relativelyshallow portion, a relatively deep sump portion and a transverselyextending darn separating said shallow portion from said deep portion,said dam being formed by a raised portion extending across the bottom ofsaid pan to provide clearance for a member to pass transverselythereunder and means to direct oil from said shallow portion over saidraised portion and into said sump portion, said means including aplurality of upwardly extending vanes arranged diagonally at an angle ofaround 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the oil pan and alongthe bottom of said shallow portion to intercept and direct rearwardlyoil thrown transversely against said vanes as a result of the effect ofthe moving parts of the engine.

6. The combination of claim 5 and further including a generallyhorizontal baflle member extending from said raised portion over theadjacent part of said sump portion to prevent oil in said sump portionfrom sloshing over into said shallow portion.

7. In combination with an internal combustion engine having a crankshaftrotatably carried in the lower portion thereof, said crankshaft having aplurality of longitudinally spaced eccentric portions,

an oil pan closing said engine lower portion adjacent said crankshaftand having at one end a sump portion to contain a charge of lubricatingoil and at the other end a relatively shallow portion having a floorspaced from said crankshaft eccentric portions,

said oil pan including a raised portion of said floor extendingtransversely across said pan between said sump portion and said shallowportion to provide clearance for a member to pass transversely undersaid pan and a plurality of upwardly extending diagonal vanes arrangedon said shallow portion floor to intercept oil swept transverselythereacross by said crankshaft eccentric portions and direct said oilover said raised portion and into said sump portion.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said eccentric portions comprisecrank throws and counterweights, said raised portion being spacedlongitudinally intermediate two of said crank throws and extendingupwardly above the lowest point reached by at least one of said crankthrows and counterweights.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said vanes comprise ribs stampedinto the sheet metal bottom of said shallow portion, said ribs havingthe sides thereof toward said raised portion extending upwardly at asharp angle with respect to said bottom surface.

10. The combination of claim 8 wherein said pan includes a sheet metaldeflector member secured along said shallow portion bottom and saidvanes are formed by upwardly bent portions of said deflector member.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said pan includes a generallyhorizontal baifie member extending from said raised portion over theadjacent part of said 5 sump portion to prevent oil in said sump portionfrom sloshing over into said shallow portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WENDELL E. BURNS, PrimaryExaminer.

US. Cl. X.R.

